Reports

Joint
Report of the Council and the General Board on the introduction of a degree of Doctor of
Education (the Ed.D.)

The
Council and the General Board
beg leave to report to the University as
follows:

1. In this Report the Council and the General
Board propose the introduction of a professional doctorate in Education, titled the
Ed.D., as an additional form of doctoral provision to supplement the existing
arrange-ments for the Ph.D. and Eng.D. Degrees.

2. The
Ed.D. is a doctorate that develops the capability of individuals to work within a
professional context, researching and theorizing their own pro-fessional practice in
schools or other professional contexts. It is internationally recognized as the academic
qualification for aspiring or current leaders in the professional field of Education.
The degree is offered, for example, by Harvard University and all but two of the mostly
highly rated UK Higher Education Institutions in the field of Education in the 2008
Research Assessment Exercise. The Regent House will be aware of the Eng.D. which was
introduced in Cambridge in 2005 (Reporter, 2004–05, p. 395).

3. The Council and the General Board emphasize that the
academic standards of the Ed.D. would be the same as the Ph.D. It would, however, have
distinctive characteristics that would enable participants to focus predominantly on the
generation and development of knowledge which is directly relevant to educational
professionals. It has been designed to enable participants to develop doctoral level
research combined with

•advanced knowledge and
understanding of specialist areas within education based on applied and independent
research;

•a critical understanding and
experience of applying research methods and the capacity to judge their appropriateness
for educational enquiry at the doctoral level;

•the organizational and practical skills necessary to plan, implement, analyse, and
report educational research successfully at doctoral level;
and

•the ability to contribute to the
development of policy and practice, informed by research evidence, in educational
contexts.

4. The course for the Ed.D. Degree would
comprise a five-year part-time programme of advanced study and research that, while
satisfying the University’s criteria for the award of a doctorate, is designed to meet
the specific needs of a professional group. Candidates for the Ed.D. would be practising
teachers, managers, or policy makers who wish to gain and use research skills in order
to modify and improve practice and policy, and for whom a full-time research degree
would not be appropriate. The regulations will parallel those for a part-time Ph.D. and
there will be highly selective entry criteria consistent with those for the Ph.D.; that
is, a minimum requirement of a good first degree and a Master’s degree in an education
or related discipline with an average grade of 68 per cent. Candidates with recent prior
and appropriate research training could be credited accordingly by the Degree
Committee.

5. In order to qualify for the award of the
degree, a candidate would be required to complete satisfactorily a prescribed programme
of practice-based research methods training and to provide evidence of a significant
original contribution to study in the field of education through a research project
which draws on the candidate’s professional experience. The research project would be
carried out in an educational establishment or other appropriate professional context,
under the supervision of a member of the Faculty. Final examination would be by thesis
andwritten or oral
examination.

6. The Faculty of Education has a strong and
successful tradition of working in research and teaching partnerships with schools in
the East of England and nationally. The introduction of the Ed.D. will further
strengthen partnerships and contribute to the University’s outreach focus and widening
participation agenda. Market research among participants in the M.Ed. and postgraduate
Practitioner Professional Development (PPD) programmes, and among other interested
parties in the eastern region, indicates that the proposed Ed.D. would recruit strongly.
The primary interest in the Ed.D. has come from senior educational leaders within the
educational system, in schools largely within the region. The Faculty has had
expressions of interest by headteachers and school senior management/leadership teams in
large, high-performing comprehensive schools with strong national reputations who are
keen to support the professional and academic progression of their senior staff. The
Faculty intends that a cohort of 30 participants would be recruited to the programme at
the outset, and anticipates that an intake of this order every other year will be
sustainable in the long term, leading to between 60 and 90 registered Ed.D. students at
any one time.

7. The proposal to develop the Ed.D. as an
alternative route to the Ph.D. for students who have completed the M.Ed. and M.Phil.
programmes within the Faculty of Education is rooted in the Faculty’s Strategic Plan.
This was originally prepared in response to the proposed convergence of the University’s
School of Education with the teaching and research interests of Homerton College in
August 2001. Subsequent modifications to this Strategic Plan envisage an expansion of
the number of higher degree students within the Faculty, achieved partly through the
expansion of the numbers of students undertaking Masters’ degrees. It is anticipated
that these numbers will expand further if the University accepts the notion of a
part-time Ed.D. The September 2009 consultation on the REF (Research Excellence
Framework) 2013 demonstrates HEFCE’s commitment to assess the demonstrable benefits to
society of research by including an impact element in the REF. The Ed.D. will allow the
Faculty to continue to make an impact in regional, national, and international
educational policy and practice. The majority of Ed.D. students will be practising
professionals in the field of education who will be conducting research in practice,
leading to direct opportunities for innovative social, educational, economic, and
policy-driven impact. The proposal for the Ed.D. was endorsed in principle during the
General Board Review of Learning and Teaching at the Faculty in 2006–07 and has been
approved by the Faculty Board, the Council of the School of the Humanities and Social
Sciences, and has the support of the Senior Tutors’ Committee.

8. The new programme will be delivered from within
existing staffing and resources available to the Faculty, although it will entail some
reallocation of staff workload to generate the necessary supervisory capacity. This
proposal is closely linked to existing strategic plans for the undergraduate, P.G.C.E.,
and part-time M.Phil. programmes. Fees would be consistent with those for the part-time
Ph.D.

9. As with the Eng.D. the Council and the General
Board will look to the Board of Graduate Studies, in consultation with the Degree
Committee for Education, to make the distinctive characteristics of the Ed.D. clear in
publicly available information and in the guidance given to students, supervisors, and
examiners. They will also look to the Board to put in place appropriate quality
assurance procedures which are consistent with those sections of the QAA’s Code of
Practice which are concerned with postgraduate research
programmes.

10. Regulations proposed for the Ed.D. Degree
are appended as the Annex to this Report. Consequent amendments to certain other
regulations are necessary and are set out in the
recommendations.

11. The Council and the General Board
accordingly recommend:

I. That a degree of Doctor of
Education be established in the University with effect from 1 October 2010, to be
governed by the general regulations for the degree, as set out in the Annex to this
Report.

II. That, if Recommendation I is approved,
certain regulations be amended, with effect from the same date, as
follows:

(a) SCHEDULE
L to the Statutes (Degrees of the University).

By inserting the degree of Doctor of Education under
the list of Primary
Degrees.

By inserting in line 3 after the words ‘the degree of
Ph.D., M.Sc., or M.Litt.,’ the words ‘or a course of training and research for the
degree of Ed.D.’

23 November
2009

Alison Richard,
Vice-Chancellor

A. M.
Donald

Debbie
Lowther

N.
Bampos

David
Good

Rachael
Padman

Nigel
Brown

Christopher
Hum

David
Simon

William
Brown

F. P.
Kelly

Joan M.
Whitehead

M. J.
Daunton

Vanessa V.
Lawrence

4 November
2009

Alison Richard,
Vice-Chancellor

Andrew
Gamble

J. G. P.
Sissons

N.
Bampos

Christopher
Gilligan

Sam
Wakeford

William
Brown

Rachael
Padman

I. H.
White

Philip
Ford

J.
Rallison

Yang
Xia

Simon
Franklin

Jeremy
Sanders

ANNEX

DOCTOR
OF EDUCATION

1. In
order to qualify for the degree of Doctor of Education a candidate shall be required
satisfactorily to complete a course of training prescribed for that degree and provide
evidence of a significant original contribution to study in the field of education.

2. Subject to clauses
(a)–(c) below, a Graduate Student
registered for the degree of Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) shall pursue in the University,
and such other places as the Board of Graduate Studies and the Degree Committee for the
Faculty of Education shall determine, a part-time course of training and research under
supervision for not less than fifteen terms.

The
number of terms shall begin with the term from which the student is registered as a
candidate for the degree and shall be consecutive except in so far as the student may
have been allowed to intermit her or his course under clause
(a) below, or except in so far as the Board may have determined
that he or she shall not be allowed to count any particular term towards the
requirements for the Degree.

(a)The Board, after
considering a recommendation by the Degree Committee for the Faculty of Education, may
exempt from up to five terms of her or his course a student who is registered as a
candidate for the Ed.D. Degree, provided that before admission as a Graduate Student he
or she had been
engaged

either (i) in
full-time or part-time
research

or (ii) in
other work done after graduation deemed by the Degree Committee and the Board to have
provided satisfactory training for the course of research in
question.

(b)On account
of illness or other sufficient cause, the Board, after considering a recommendation by
the Degree Committee, may allow a student to intermit her or his course for one or more
terms. Such terms shall not count for any purpose of these regulations except as
provided in Regulation 7 of the general regulations for admission as a Graduate Student.

(c)On the
recommendation of the Degree Committee, the Board may allow a student who has been
approved for, and may have proceeded to, the M.Ed. Degree, or the M.Phil., or M.St., or
M.Res. Degree in an appropriate subject to count not more than five terms towards her or
his course.

Every application for a dispensation
under clauses (a)–(c) shall be made in
writing to the Secretary of the Board, and shall be accompanied by a written opinion
from the applicant’s Supervisor.

3. On the recommendation of
the Board, the Council may grant to a Graduate Student in respect of work done in the
University before matriculation, if the student’s matriculation was delayed for
sufficient cause, an allowance of terms not exceeding five in number, towards the
minimum of fifteen terms required to be kept under Regulation 2.

4. The Board may grant to a
Graduate Student, after considering an application supported by the student’s Tutor, up
to five terms of research towards satisfying the requirements of Regulation 2, on
account of illness or other grave cause. For every term so allowed the student shall pay
the appropriate fee as prescribed in Regulation 11 of the general regulations for
admission as a Graduate Student.

5. In order to be registered
as a candidate for the degree, a Graduate Student must have completed, to the
satisfaction of the Board and the Degree Committee, such course-work, undertaken either
in the University or at such other place as may have been approved for this purpose, as
the Board and Degree Committee may have specified.

6. The course of training and
research shall be conducted under such supervisory arrangements as the Board and the
Degree Committee shall specify. The Board and the Degree Committee shall satisfy
themselves that, during the periods when a student is working outside the University,
appropriate arrangements for supervision and for reporting on the student’s progress are
in place.

7. The examination for
the degree of Ed.D. shall consist of:

(a)the submission of
a dissertation embodying the results of the candidate’s approved course of research,
which shall be submitted in accordance with the provisions of Regulations
8–10,

(b)an
examination, conducted orally or in writing, on the subject of the dissertation and on
the general field of knowledge within which it falls, provided that in exceptional
circumstances, and on the recommendation of the Degree Committee, the Board may dispense
with such an examination.

8. A
candidate may submit her or his dissertation not earlier than the first day of the term
during which he or she expects to complete the requirements of Regulation 2, provided
that, and not later than the last day of the seventh year after he or she was
registered, with the permission of the Board, a dissertation may be submitted later than
that day. An allowance of terms made by the Council under Regulation 3 shall count in
calculating the standing of a student for the purpose of this
regulation.

9. In submitting their
dissertations, candidates shall state, generally in a preface and specifically in notes
or in a bibliography, the sources from which their information is derived, the extent to
which they have availed themselves of the work of others, and the portions of the
dissertation which are claimed as original. They shall also be required to declare that
the dissertation submitted is not substantially the same as any that they may have
submitted for a degree or diploma or similar qualification. The work, apart from
quotations, shall be written in English. Candidates shall also submit a statement by
those responsible for their supervision certifying the conditions under which each
candidate’s work was undertaken.

10. Two copies of each
candidate’s dissertation, accompanied by the statement referred to in Regulation 9 and
three copies of a summary of about 300 words in length, shall be sent to the Secretary
of the Board, who shall forward the copies and two copies of the summary to the
Secretary of the Degree Committee. In special circumstances the Board, after consulting
the Degree Committee, may allow a candidate to submit one copy only of the dissertation.
The dissertation shall be referred to two Examiners, appointed by the Degree Committee.
Neither of the Examiners shall have been the candidate’s Supervisor. Each Examiner shall
make an independent report on the dissertation to the Degree Committee. The two
Examiners shall jointly conduct the oral examination specified for the dissertation
under Regulation 7(b), and shall sign a joint certificate of
the result. If the Examiners do not agree in their recommendations or if for any other
reason the Degree Committee or the Board need a further opinion or opinions on the merit
of the work submitted, the Degree Committee may appoint an additional Examiner or
additional Examiners, provided that not more than one additional Examiner shall be
appointed without leave of the Board. Each additional Examiner so appointed shall make
an independent report on the dissertation to the Degree Committee.

11. If a candidate fails to
satisfy the Examiners in the oral examination specified for the dissertation under
Regulation 7(b), the Degree Committee may permit the candidate
to be re-examined by the same Examiners. Permission so given shall be communicated to
the Secretary of the Board and shall not be given on more than one occasion. Each
Examiner who takes part in an examination under this regulation shall be paid a fee of
£42 in addition to any fees to which he or she may be entitled under Regulation 12, and
may also claim travelling expenses in accordance with the provisions of that regulation.

12. Each Examiner shall receive a
fee from the Chest. Such a fee shall be £135 if the Examiner takes part in the oral
examination specified for the dissertation under Regulation
7(b), or £100 if the Examiner does not so take part, either
because the Board, on the recommendation of the Degree Committee, have dispensed with
the oral examination or for any other reason. Examiners may claim travelling expenses,
on terms and conditions specified by the Board if their place of residence is more than
ten miles from Great St Mary’s Church or if an oral examination or a consultation
between the Examiners is for good reason held outside Cambridge. The Board may also
approve payment of other reasonable expenses incurred by an Examiner in connection with
the execution of her or his duties. A subsistence allowance may be claimed by Examiners
at rates determined from time to time by the Finance Committee of the Council, provided
that payment may be made only in respect of a day or a night on which the Examiner’s
absence from her or his normal place of residence in connection with the execution of
her or his duties is necessary. The travelling expenses of a candidate who is required
to travel to an oral examination outside Cambridge may be paid in whole or in part, at
rates determined by the Board; such a candidate may also claim a subsistence allowance
at rates determined from time to time by the Finance Committee, under the same
conditions as apply to the Examiners.

13. If, after considering the
reports of the Examiners, the Degree Committee are satisfied that the candidate’s work
is of the requisite standard for the degree, a recommendation of the Committee to that
effect, with the names of those present and voting on either side, shall be communicated
to the Board, together with the reports of the Examiners. If the Board, after receiving
such communication, at a meeting at which not less than five members are present,
resolve that the candidate be approved for the Ed.D. Degree, the Secretary of the Board
shall publish a notice of the candidate’s approval for the award of the Degree.

14. If, after considering the
reports of the Examiners, the Degree Committee consider that the candidate’s
dissertation is not of the requisite standard for the degree, the Board may, at a
meeting at which no less than five members are present, permit the candidate to submit a
revised dissertation, but they shall not do so unless the Degree Committee have
expressly recommended that such permission be given. The communication conveying such a
recommendation by a Degree Committee shall contain the names of those present and voting
on either side, and shall be accompanied by the reports of the Examiners. A candidate
shall not be allowed to submit a revised dissertation on more than one occasion.

15. If, after considering the
reports of the Examiners, the Degree Committee consider that the candidate’s work is not
of the standard requisite for the Ed.D. Degree, but that it is of the standard requisite
for the M.Litt. Degree, their recommendation to that effect, with the names of those
present and voting on either side, shall be communicated to the Board, together with the
reports of the Examiners. If after receiving such communication the Board decide, at a
meeting at which not less than five members are present, that the candidate could
properly be approved for the award of the lower degree, the Secretary of the Board shall
ask the candidate whether he or she is willing to be approved for the award of the
M.Litt. Degree. Subject to the candidate’s agreement being received by the Secretary not
later than the last day of the term following the term or vacation in which the decision
on her or his candidature was made, the Board shall approve the candidate for the award
of that degree and the Secretary shall publish a notice of such approval. The Board may,
in exceptional circumstances, which they shall themselves determine, accept a
candidate’s agreement at a later date.

16. The Board shall be the
deciding authority on all recommendations communicated to them by Degree Committees that
candidates be approved for the award of the Ed.D. or M.Litt. Degree or that they be
allowed to submit revised dissertations. The Board shall not approve a candidate for the
award of a degree unless the Degree Committee have recommended the award of that degree;
before refusing an award so recommended they shall give a representative appointed by
the Degree Committee an opportunity of explaining the Committee’s reasons for their
recommendation.

17. If after
considering the reports of the Examiners the Degree Committee resolve that a candidate’s
work is not of the requisite standard for any degree, and if they do not recommend that
the candidate be allowed to submit a revised dissertation, their resolution to that
effect, with the names of those present and voting on either side, shall be communicated
to the Board, together with the reports of the Examiners. The Secretary of the Board
shall communicate this decision to the candidate.

18. Before being admitted to
a degree, a student shall deposit with the Secretary of the Board one copy of her or his
dissertation and two copies of the summary, in a form approved by the Board. The
Secretary shall deposit the copy of the dissertation together with one copy of the
summary in the University Library, where they shall be available for consultation and
for the making of copies for inter-library loan purposes, unless the Board determine
that they shall, for a period specified by the Board, be available only to the author or
to those who have the author’s written permission to consult the material. The summary
shall be available for copying and publication at the discretion of the
Board.